Quoth the Raven....

The Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Wednesday Fandom Time

The sudden rush of terror woke Raven before the screams could. Instinctively knowing the source, she quickly got out of her bed and hurried to one of the rooms where the children were sleeping.

She'd moved into the new suite of rooms Karla had given her -- or, rather, the staff had moved her in what seemed a blink of the eye. With three extra rooms now, each with two or three beds, she had room for some of her orphan charges to spend a night or longer with her. Sometimes it was a treat of sorts, to come to the Estate for a visit, but more often it was because she sensed a need for more time with a particularly troubled child. Children were resilient, but some still carried deep scars from the war.

As she already knew, it was Karina who struggled with a nightmare. Five-year-old Prinda was huddled in her own bed, wide-eyed and staring, and her older brother Jens had gotten up and was trying to shake Karina awake as she whimpered and thrashed. Raven sent both the other children a warm burst of comfort as she sat on the edge of Karina's bed and gathered the girl in her arms. "It is all right, dear one," she whispered, rocking the girl as she wrapped her in a gentle blanket of peace. "No one can hurt you now. You are safe here with me." Karina clung to Raven, crying as the nightmare began to fade.

Karina was only the name they called the girl. She'd been found wandering alone shortly after Karla had claimed Sidra, and no one could locate any family. Nor did they know her name -- the girl had not spoken a single word since she'd been taken to one of the local orphanages. Whatever trauma she had experienced kept part of her mind locked away, and only in her dreams did it sometimes creep out. Ulrich had brought her to Raven's attention not long ago, and since then Raven had been trying to find a way to help her. She judged the girl to be about six years old, and had given her a name since she would not speak her own.

"I tried to wake her up, Lady Raven," Jens said solemnly. "She has nightmares a lot."

Raven smiled at the boy and touched a hand to his cheek. "I know," she said. "And thank you for trying to help her. You should go back to sleep now." She looked over at Prinda. "You as well, little one. Tomorrow should be a lovely day, and we will go visit the gardens in the morning."

She turned her gaze to the door, where three more worried faces, older children who had been sleeping in the room next door, were peering inside. "Everything is all right," Raven said. "It was just a bad dream. The rest of you need your sleep, so back to your room, please."

Karina was sniffling quietly, still clinging tightly as Raven brought her back to her own room. "My bed is more than big enough for us both," she said as she settled them both upon it. "You will sleep here with me, and I will keep the nightmares away."

Karina shook her head. No, she seemed to say without words. The nightmares never went away.

"Oh, but you know I have special powers, do you not?" Raven said with a smile. "I can guard your dreams against anything unpleasant. I promise you that. Do you trust me?"

The girl still looked skeptical, but she nodded to indicate her trust. "Then just close your eyes and relax," Raven said, bending her head to kiss Karina's forehead. "I will keep you safe."

Raven leaned back against the headboard of her bed and let Karina get comfortable curled against her. She still seemed reluctant to drop back into sleep, so Raven soothingly stroked her soft blonde hair, thought for a moment, then began to sing. She hadn't really sang since she'd graduated from Fandom -- except the one time she'd needed to do so to save the world and all -- because her heart had been too heavy. But she remembered the words of the song easily enough.

Story books are full of fairy talesOf kings and queens and the bluest skiesMy heart is torn just in knowingYou have seen the truth from lies

When the clouds will rage inStorms will race inBut you will be safe in my armsRains will pour downWaves will crash aroundBut you will be safe in my arms

Castles – they might crumbleDreams may not come trueBut you are never all aloneBecause I will always love you

When the clouds will rage inStorms will race inBut you will be safe in my armsRains will pour downWaves will crash aroundBut you will be safe in my arms

Karina finally allowed herself to drift off to sleep, and this time Raven wrapped her in a protective cocoon of love and hope to keep any nightmares at bay. She'd done this plenty of times before in the past, though this was the first time with this particular child. For now she just shielded the girl, wondering if she could convince her to trust Raven enough to allow her access to her dreams so that she could find the source of them. She preferred not to inject herself into the nightmares without permission -- Karina had already been through enough trauma.

Karla or another Black Widow might be able to help as well, though Raven had had to work hard to win this much of Karina's trust. She'd also thought about bringing Karina to Fandom to see Dr. Lecter, but though she'd made a peace of sorts with Jono during her last visit to Fandom, she hadn't spoken to Hannibal in over a year.

She decided she'd see what she could do herself to start, and if she could make no progress, she would explore other options. For now, she'd ensure the girl got a good night's sleep by protecting her dreams.

Wrapping one arm around Karina, Raven reached for her phone with the other. She was going to browse or read for awhile before letting herself fall asleep as well.

[Quietly open for texts or anyone who might happen to be in Glacia. May be SP while I am trapped in a meeting about how ~*~fun~*~ our new office structure is going to be. :-| ]

In response to that, Raven turned her phone around to take a picture of herself, with her best pouty lips and sad eyes. She sent the picture -- which also caught a bit of Karina snuggled against her -- on to Momoko.

She is physically well, but traumatized by the war. Raven looked down at Karina and did a quick check to make certain her dreams were still peaceful. She would've felt it if a nightmare tried to intrude, but she was concerned enough to double-check.

She does not speak. Whatever happened to her has scarred her deeply, and I wish to help her.

Raven was surprised, too, but then again, as much as she adored the children, she'd been reluctant to make strong emotional connections with any of them, since her heart was too heavy. But now that she'd finally let go and moved on, she didn't have that fear anymore.

Karla allowed me a large suite of rooms so that I may do so. Some of the children need more attention than I can give them in just a visit.

Now Raven was tempted to sneak into Momoko's room and exchange everything with an exact duplicate, only black.

Sometimes it is merely a matter of sending good emotions, love and hope and joy, to keep darker thoughts at bay. That is what I am doing now. But I may also enter another's dreams and turn them from bad to something good of my choosing.

"Manipulate them" was probably the better way to describe it, but that sounded so...sinister.

Just sending good feelings and banishing the bad is a short-term solution, Raven admitted. But to enter a dream and help find the source of the badness would help better in the long run. I am hoping Karina will come to trust me enough to allow me to help her in that way. I do not require her permission, but I do not want to traumatize her more by coming into her dreams uninvited.

It is not playing, Momoko, Raven typed, shaking her head. But yes, it is an invasion of privacy, so it would have to be an emergency to violate that.

She smiled down at Karina, sending her a gentle pulse of affection. I hope so. Fortunately many of the other children have been able to recover and pull their lives back together. Others just need a little more help.